RB Leipzig Shifts Gears: From Real to Elversberg

After their fifth straight road loss, concerns are mounting at RB Leipzig. And the question arises: Can Martín Demichelis’s team switch to playing well at home so easily? On Saturday (3:30 p.m./Sky), the Saxons will host SV Elversberg in the Bundesliga. It won’t be a walk in the park. The strong promoted team has already earned one more point than RB in the Bundesliga. 

At least the RB Leipzig players passed the character test in Madrid following the 1–6 humiliation in Munich. “We kind of gave up a bit in Munich, but I didn’t have that feeling today,” said Christoph Baumgartner after making his comeback in the final minutes. In the 1–4 loss at the Estadio Santiago Bernabéu, however, RB only played boldly on the attack in the first half. According to Baumgartner, the Saxons were “the more dangerous team. We didn’t stop even after it was 2–0; we even scored the 3–1 goal after it was 3–0.” 

Demichelis with mixed feelings

Nevertheless, after five away losses, the goal difference stands at 4–19. After Bernardo Silva opened the scoring (44th minute), Arda Güler (52nd) and Kylian Mbappé (82') added to the lead, before—after Tidiam Gomis’s goal (85')—none other than former Leipzig player Yan Diomande sealed the final score with a dream goal (87'). Thus, following the 1–4 loss in Como and the lucky 1–0 home win against PSV Eindhoven, Leipzig has only three points in the Champions League standings—placing them 29th out of 36, tied with AEK Athens.

Argentine Demichelis was torn between emotions after the match. “I can’t say I’m satisfied, because we lost. But compared to the game against Munich, this was a completely different performance. We were compact today and also played well with the ball. Now we need to recover, look ahead, and put on a good game on Saturday at our stadium in front of our fans,” said the RB head coach.